


A Muggle-World Excursion

by Draco_Amante



Series: Drabble Challenge 2015 with Unkissed [3]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-15
Updated: 2015-04-15
Packaged: 2018-03-23 01:23:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,473
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3749755
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Draco_Amante/pseuds/Draco_Amante
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Drabble Prompts: The Scamander Twins, Popcorn, Nervous, an inordinate use of the word "fuck".</p>
<p>The Potters and the Scamanders visit the London Sealife Aquarium, and a new game is invented.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Muggle-World Excursion

**Author's Note:**

  * For [unkissed](https://archiveofourown.org/users/unkissed/gifts).



Ginny should have known better. When Luna said she had a great idea for an outing, she really ought to have asked more questions.

It’s not that this was a bad idea, exactly, she considered. It was more that she herself had so little Muggle-world experience, and her kids weren’t any better. It was also her own fault for not checking James’ pockets before they headed out, because he’d stuffed them full of Wheezes and popcorn, and now everyone had started a game of Raid James’ Pockets (At Your Own Peril) and she had to keep a quick draw on her wand to stop any of the Muggles from noticing that some of those toys weren’t exactly… normal.

 

*

 

It had started out as a rather pleasant trip, to be honest. They’d piled into Dad’s latest experimental car, her and Luna up front and all five children giggling in the back (well, four - Lorcan didn’t seem to ever really laugh). Even James was smiling happily. There was enough food packed to feed a small army, thanks to Mum, and the aquarium was apparently full of all sorts of exciting things, not just fish (although Lily was going through a phase where she really really wanted a fish, so that was a win right there).

 

It didn’t take long to get there, hopping through traffic via magic, and there wasn’t too much of a queue to get in, thank Merlin, but then Albus wanted to see the sea turtles, James wanted to check out the sharks, Lorcan vanished in search of the piranhas, and Lily tried to follow him. Lysander just stared at his mum in mute appeal, clearly wanting to see everything at once and upset that he had to choose just one thing to start with.

Which of course started a war between Albus and James.

Albus whispered something in Lysander’s ear, and James yelled that he was trying to bribe a ‘vote’ for turtles over sharks, and then there was a lot more yelling and Ginny dearly wished she could just _silencio_ the pair of them, especially since Lily was crying at being held too tightly, and Luna just wandered off to look at the clownfish.

It was Lysander who managed to distract them, inadvertently starting the Game.

“James, can I have some popcorn?”

There was instant silence, as James eyed her nervously and Albus grinned, waiting for the explosion. She hated to oblige, but honestly.

“James, did you bring popcorn with you?” Quick as a snake, Al had a hand in and out of James’ pocket, pulling out a handful of popped kernels and a Classic Canary Cream. And then he ran for it.

And James ran off after him.

At least, she reflected, Lysander looked somewhat apologetically at her before he, too, dashed down a nearby corridor, trying to head them both off at the next bend.

Lily tugged at her, wanting to go after them, and with a heavy sigh, Ginny decided that today was a good day to just give up.

 

Eventually, Luna found her staring at the seahorses.

“You know, a bet seahorses have a much easier time raising their children.”

“Actually, seahorses don’t raise their children at all. Which is a bit sad, when you think about it. They miss out on all the nice stuff, like hugs.” Turning to stare at her friend in surprise, Ginny realised that Luna was in fact being hugged quite tightly by Lysander, with Lorcan holding his twin’s hand and looking a bit sulky.

“I don’t suppose you know where mine are?” she asked, looking to the twins more so than their mother without even thinking about it.

“They found the crocodiles. And there’s popcorn all over the floor.” Lorcan volunteered, saying rather more than usual - clearly, popcorn everywhere was practically a crime in his young mind, and needed to be dealt with.  
  


They were, indeed, at the crocodiles, all three of them pressed up against the glass of the tank. Part of her wanted to just take a photo of this moment and treasure it forever, but her temper usually did get the better of her…

“What the everloving _fuck_ do you three think you’re _fucking_ doing?!” she declaimed, not really expecting an answer. “You do _not_ just fuck off and do whatever the _fuck_ you want, you hear me? If you _ever_ run off like that again, I’m not fucking taking you anywhere. You can just be fucking _grounded for life_.”

Breathing deeply, she collapsed into a nearby seat.

“You know, you could have gotten hurt. Or lost. Or even kidnapped.”

Lily immediately dashed over to her, crawling into her lap teary-eyed, and leaving her feeling a little guilty. She had let Lily go, after all. James was trying his hardest not to look sorry, although he clearly was, and Albus… well, he was a bit of a drama queen at heart.

He threw himself at her feet, arms wrapped around her calves, and begged her not to ever trap him in a house with James. Grinning, as he continued, she eventually found herself laughing, as James’ scowl deepened at his brother’s ‘hysterics’ at having to endure ‘that smelly pig face’ in close quarters at all times.

“Oh, hush Albie. Come on, let’s find the others and have lunch.”

That at least seemed to cheer James up, and Ginny allowed herself to hope that perhaps today could be salvaged after all.

 

*

 

Unfortunately, she’d forgotten about James’ pockets. All through lunch, the others were doing their best to steal whatever they could out of the deep pockets of James’ cargo pants (sending stale popcorn everywhere), and he was gleefully slapping at them and squirming around, once almost sending potato salad across the ground, and even more memorably almost putting his foot through Lorcan; who pinched James’ ankle somehow and made him shriek like a teakettle. Lysander seemed to be winning, his pale hands with their oddly long fingers quick and sneaky; Albus kept getting slapped on the arm each time he tried, and Lily received similar treatment (although she did notice James was much more gentle with his sister than with his brother). She didn’t notice Lorcan playing at all, but he seemed happy enough to eat his meal quietly.

 

It wasn’t until a few days later that she discovered the real winner of the game though.

“Mum, I can’t find my Mocking Manual, or my Skiving Snackbox stuff, or any of it!” James wailed, running into the kitchen. “Albus and Lily said they don’t have them, and they hardly got anything but popcorn anyway, but my stuff!” It took her a moment to realise what he was on about, but once Ginny recalled the game it was obvious - Lysander must have all of James’ Wheezes.

“Calm down, I’ll talk to Luna.”

 

*

 

As promised, over lunch the next day with Luna, Ginny brought up the Game. Luna just grinned broadly when she suggested it was Lysander who had the bulk of James’ things.

“After all, I didn’t see Lorcan take anything at all.”

“I’ll see that James gets his things back, shall I?”

 

*

 

The package was huge, and clear addressed to James Sirius Potter in Rolf Scamander’s neat print. She shook it up against her ear, carefully, wondering for a moment what it could be.

“Checking it’s not dangerous?” Harry teased, sliding an arm around her waist, half leaning on her and looking over her shoulder.

“I think it’s James’ Wheezes… but he can’t have had this much in his pockets…” With Harry’s encouragement, she pried open the box carefully, and stared.

This wasn’t just James’ Wheezes. The box also contained one of his socks, his red hoodie, his wool gloves (which she’d accused him of losing in Diagon Alley), and a few items belonging to Albus and Lily.

The accompanying letter, also written in Rolf’s handwriting, should not, upon reflection, have been terribly surprising.

_Potters,_

_Please find enclosed all items that Lorcan has acquired, with the (claimed unwilling) aid of his twin brother._

_Do bear in mind that, when you don’t see him doing anything, Lorcan has likely just stolen your jewellery. He seems to believe it is a good game. Indeed, he has learnt cunning, stealth, and some measure of selfishness, and we can only hope he is Sorted to Slytherin over Ravenclaw, so that he may not learn too much further. Unfortunately Lysander appears to be something of an enabler, and both are quite unrepentant._

_However, I understand all items are in their original condition._

_“Damaged or misplaced items aren’t good trophies.”_

_Apologies for any inconvenience,_

_Rolf Scamander._

  
  
Harry and Ginny both agreed it was better to tell the kids that they’d simply found their things. It would clearly be a bad idea to encourage any sort of enmity between their children and the Scamander twins...


End file.
